Mayor: City saving money with city-run mosquito control

Morgan City government is saving $70,000 annually by using city employees and equipment on mosquito control and will save additional funds after the city’s mosquito control consultant leaves, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said Tuesday.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, officials gave an update on the city’s mosquito control program. City officials hired mosquito control consultant Matt Yates about two years ago to help the city transition to provide its own mosquito spraying service. Previously, the city used a private contractor.
Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said the city was wasting a lot of money contracting a private mosquito control company and didn’t have control over when the contractor sprayed.
The city currently pays Yates $2,500 a month for his consulting services.
Since hiring Yates, the city has saved about $70,000 a year by using city workers and equipment to run the mosquito control program in house, Grizzaffi said.
Public Works Supervisor Jean Paul Bourg took 12 hours of mosquito entomology classes through the University of Nebraska. The city plans to terminate its contract with Yates as a consultant once Bourg passes a test to get his state mosquito control license, Grizzaffi said.
City employee Kelly Liner has become a mosquito control specialist in the past two years, Yates said. City employees received assistance from the East Baton Rouge Parish and Iberia Parish mosquito programs along with the state entomologist, he said.
The city does have mosquito spraying trucks, but those trucks are just a small part of the mosquito control program, Yates said. City workers regularly trap and test mosquitoes to test for West Nile and then eliminate the source of mosquitoes that test positive, he said.
Much of the program consists of larvicide, which means destroying mosquitoes before they’re born, Grizzaffi said.
City workers treat drains and swimming pools as a preventative measure to kill the larva, Grizzaffi said.
“Once they get in the air, it’s almost too late, so the least amount of spraying you can do the better off you are,” Grizzaffi said.
Also at the meeting, the council approved holding the first “Porch Fest” in Morgan City at Lawrence Park from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 16. Morgan City dentist Dr. Frances Scott Sicard, who got the idea from a festival he went to while living in Cleveland, said the Porch Fest will allow musicians to play on the porches of several residents surrounding Lawrence Park. Organizers plan to have kids’ events in the park, and food and alcohol for sale, organizer Jean Paul Bourg said.
The council held an executive session during Tuesday’s meeting to discuss various pending litigation in which the city is involved, Grizzaffi said. Upon returning from the executive session, City Attorney Paul Landry said the lawsuits discussed included automobile collisions and blighted property disputes, but didn’t cite the specific cases.
In other business, the council:
—Elected Ron Bias as mayor pro-tem replacing councilman Barry Dufrene in that position.
—Approved Café JoJo’s request to host the sixth “Rhythms on the River” each Friday starting April 1 through May 27. Bands will play from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Front Street, Everett to Freret streets will be closed during each event.
—Approved a parade permit for the Krewe of Dionysus to hold an Italian/Irish Heritage Parade beginning at 11 a.m. March 19. It will start at the intersection of Onstead and Second streets, travel from Second Street to Lawrence Park, turn right on Everett Street, proceed to Front Street and turn right on Front Street ending at Café JoJo’s.
—Approved resolutions authorizing signatures for a Louisiana Community Development Block Grant housing program contract extension and a wharf contract amendment.